Luciano: Some sage advice from 110-year-old Mae Schrock

EUREKA — In her 110 years, Mae Schrock has worked many jobs, but not stand-up comedy.

Maybe she should give it a try. She loves when people ask the big question: What’s the secret to her living so long?

“I haven’t died,” she deadpans.

That undeniable wisdom never fails to get a laugh from residents and visitors at the Apostolic Christian Home of Eureka. Mae moved there way back when in 2004, when she was a mere centenarian. Today, the smiley, talkative Congerville native will mark her 110th birthday, joining extremely rare company. In the 2010 census, of 309 million Americans, only 330 (131 men, 199 women) were 110 years of age or older.

Not that Mae cares much about those numbers. Rather, she is more excited for the social opportunity of twin birthday parties: kin today, staff and residents Friday. The celebrations give her a chance to talk about the old days, even way back to her carefree, on-the-road days when she just a pup of 90.

As Mae’s memory dances through a century-plus of recollections, the gaps are many. Yet she easily remembers happy events of her childhood (milking cows before and after school), a wide variety of jobs (including washing bottles for 10 cents an hour) and her favorite activity nowadays (singing with fellow residents at church services).

Her tales and memories stack up as a living memorial to a vivacious life:

Gold is a good investment: Mae’s paternal ancestors have been in America for a long time. After hearing word of the Gold Rush of 1849, one of her great-uncles trekked from Illinois to California with hopes of striking it rich. Plucking from streams and earth, he hit pretty big, returning to Illinois with 55 pounds of gold.

But real estate is better: The great-uncle used that gold to buy a wide swath of land outside Congerville. The property remained in the Schrock family as farmland well into the 20th century.

Waste not, want not: The frugal farmers in and around Congerville threw away nothing. For a weather-beating exterior of houses, they used the weather-beating exterior of trees: bark. Those slabs of bark lent a nickname to Slabtown, and inside one of those houses Mae was born May 1, 1904.

Don’t sweat the small stuff: Though born on May Day, Mae’s full name is really Lydia Mae Schrock. But some of her siblings — four of each gender, all of them since passed away — couldn’t get the hang of her first name. “My brothers couldn’t say Lydia. So they called me Mae, and the name stuck.”

Pick the right team: In 1904, the Chicago Cubs were becoming a perennial power, reaching the World Series from 1906 to 1908 and winning those last two. Still, though one of the few people around during the Cubs last championship, Mae says she always has enjoyed baseball less as a spectator than a participant. “I was good at baseball,” she says, eyes lighting up. “Another girl and I were so good, the boys always invited us to play with them. I played all the positions.”

It pays to stick with what you know: Attending school through 10th grade, Mae enjoyed all subjects but especially spelling. “I was good in spelling. I once got an award for spelling. It was a book about birds. I was very fond of birds. I still am. I like nature.” Those spelling skills really paid off: she had the book for more than a hundred years; she only recently gave it to a niece, so her relatives could enjoy reading about birds.

Be comfortable in your own shoes: Despite gentleman callers, Mae never married. Yet the freedom allowed her to pursue other loves: tending to her vegetable garden; traveling with relatives to Florida and California; and enjoying the ebb and flow of life on her own terms. “I did a lot of things alone,” she says with a smile, with no hint of regret, just the power of independence.

Never grow old: Twenty years ago, Mae wanted to take a road trip to Florida. But all of her buddies were busy, so she had no one to ride shotgun. Still, she jumped behind the wheel of her car and punched the accelerator. Though even hardcore spring-breakers rarely travel solo, Mae went back and forth to Florida on her own — at age 90.

Never slow down: That Florida trek marked her last road trip. Still, when she got home, she marched straight to her garden. She took a shovel to the dirt, turning over the soil to get it ready for planting. No rest for gardens, veggies or Mae Schrock.

It’s good to be with peers: Mae has plenty of pals at the home. But one day, she asked the administrator for a favor. She asked if she could be moved to a wing of the home with residents her own age. At the time, she was 108. The administrator was unable to fulfill that request.

Always get fresh air: Like her beloved plants and birds, people need plenty of sun, Mae says. Even though she can no longer visit California and Florida, she still sits in her wheelchair outside as much as possible. For her 110th birthday, she hopes the sun will peek out at least a little. “I’m looking forward to that,” she says with a grin.

PHIL LUCIANO is a Journal Star columnist. He can be reached at pluciano@pjstar.com, facebook.com/philluciano, 686-3155 or (800) 225- 5757, Ext. 3155. Follow him on Twitter @LucianoPhil.